Re-Entry: Block-2BL Upper Stage

A spent rocket body from a 1988 Molniya launch re-entered the atmosphere on February 7, 2017 after over three decades in orbit.

The Molniya/2BL rocket lifted the classified Kosmos-1966 satellite into orbit, a US-K missile early warning satellite belonging to the Oko program. Molniya lifted the satellite into a highly elliptical orbit around Earth, spending most of its time located high above the Soviet Union to detect incoming ballistic missiles. The satellite itself had a planned mission duration of four years and re-entered in 2005.